Livelihood Security in Northwestern Himalaya

Himachal Pradesh is situated in the north-western part of Himalaya, covering an area of 55,673 km². Administratively, the state has been divided into 12 districts. Himachal Pradesh is a hill state, having wide variations in altitude ranging from plains to mountain peaks. Varying aspects and altitudes results into considerable variation in temperature and rainfall, soil, and vegetation, and cropping patterns of the state vary spatially because of altitude, aspect, slope and micro-climatic conditions. Most of the area of the state is drained by five major streams; i.e., Satluj, Beas, Chenab, Yamuna and Ravi. It is primarily an agrarian state where agriculture and horticulture are major economic activities. Tourism activities, both religious and adventurous, are another source of livelihoods in the state. The concentration of population is high in the southern plain area, while very sparse in the northern part of the state. The state is vulnerable to various hazards such as earthquakes, flash floods, avalanches, landslides, glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), etc., due to active plate tectonic margins and altered climatic conditions.

The paper deals with relationship between climate change, glacial lakes, and livelihoods in Northern Himachal Himalaya. To qualify this objective, primarily meteorological data of temperature and rainfall in Bhuntar, Manali, Dharamsala, and Mandi for a period of 30 years ranging from 1977 to 2007 has been obtained. Mean minimum temperatures of all stations are showing an increasing trend of varying degree, ranging from 0.1 °C in Dharamsala to 2 °C in Mandi. In the Spiti valley, maximum surface temperature has increased at the height of 4,000–5,000 m. Satellite imageries of Landsat TM and Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) have been acquired from GLCF and Earth Explorer for the year 2011. Mapping of glacial lakes has been done using Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) and Normalized Difference Pond Index (NDPI). Climatic variability in the region results into formation of large number of glacial lakes at the snout position due to rapid rate of glacier melt. Glacial lakes are a common feature at altitudes of 4,500–5,500 m in many river basins of the Northern Himachal Himalaya. A total of 65 glacial lakes have been identified in the region. These glacier lakes are one of the main sources of livelihoods in the region, but sometime they also pose threat to the ecosystem services to villages on account of glacial lake outburst flood.

Land use/cover changes in Manali tehsil of Kullu district located in Himachal Pradesh were examined using Landsat TM-5 images of 1989 and 2011. The satellite images have been radiometrically corrected. The supervised classification was applied on the images from both years for mapping of different land use/covers. The matrix analysis was applied for assessing the changes in land use/cover during the period of 1989–2011. The study reveals that areas of forests and grasslands have decreased in size. The areas under agriculture, bareland, water, and built-up land have increased. The built-up land mainly expanded on agricultural and forests land, while the agriculture land primarily encroached upon the forests.

Human beings have achieved ecological dominance through series of long and unprecedented steps and have fundamentally altered biodiversity and ecosystem processes globally as well as locally. This chapter is an attempt to investigate the concept and transformation of human-induced biome. It proposes a dynamic process to investigate the terrestrial biosphere that integrates ecological and man-made system. The terrestrial characterization of human-induced biome is based on provincial, regional, and global patterns, which have been discussed and analysed. Altogether more than 15 human-induced biomes have been grouped into seven broad categories that have been identified in Himachal Pradesh, and it has been found that more than 70 % of land has exhibited direct signs of alteration, less than 25 % is wild land as a result of human dwelling and other land uses, which is just sufficient to sustain 12 % of total terrestrial Net Primary Productivity (NPP).

Since gaining its independence, India has experienced a sharp increase in agricultural production and yield particularly those of wheat and rice, during the Green Revolution period of the mid-1970s. However, most of the mountainous states, including Himachal Pradesh, have not been major beneficiaries of the Green Revolution. Still, there have been considerable changes in the agricultural scenario of the state, particularly after it attained statehood in the early 1980s. This paper therefore aims at analysing the spatial variations and dynamics of agricultural acreage, production, and yield in Himachal Pradesh during 1972–1975 and 2003–2006. The study is based on secondary data obtained from Directorates of Land Records, Horticulture and Agriculture. The study reveals that although the foodgrain crops still dominate the cropping pattern of Himachal Pradesh, the cultivated area is beginning to comprise more and more of highly remunerative crops, like fruits, off-season vegetables, and exotic vegetables. Production and yield level of maize, wheat, and rice has increased considerably, while barley and pulses experienced either stagnation or decline in the production and yield level during the study period. Moreover, there has been significant growth in the production and yield level of fruits (e.g. apple) and vegetables.

Agriculture has undergone change and has been characterized by enhanced productivity, replacement of human labour by mechanization, introduction of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and selective breeding. The fate of agriculture round the globe has changed and Himalayan states are not an exception. In this study, two districts of Himachal Pradesh, Kangra and Chamba, have been selected because of the availability of four agro-climatic zones. To see the impact, 50 respondents from each research segment (50 × 4 = 200) have been chosen from 73 villages and 30 gram panchayats. To see the role of compelling forces, exploratory, descriptive, and observational methods of research have been deployed. The study concluded that there is a shift from traditional cropping to vegetables, sericulture, and horticulture, and that people are earning good income and also experiencing change in the amenities available in the household as well as they are capable of providing better living conditions.

Livelihood primarily defines the bases through which a rural household sustains its members. The primary concern of sustainable livelihood is to focus the poorest and most marginalized sections of the society. The Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh is one of the largest districts in the state and one where more than 60 % of population is still dependent on agriculture. However, the landholdings size distribution is highly fragmented; more than 80 % of the households have from a marginal to a small (less than 2 ha) area of land. Hence, a detailed investigation was carried out in three agro-ecological zones of Kangra district to capture the available livelihood capital of the villages. Two villages from each respective zone were selected, based on single uniform criteria of the proximity of the forest areas. The results state that the natural capital increases from the high hill region to the low hill region, as well as concerns the rest of the capitals. However, the importance of several capitals on defining the livelihood varies as at high-hill and mid-hill regions; social capital plays a more important role in the villages that are nearer to forest areas. On the other hand, the interrelationship of livelihood outcome (income) does not have predicting factors among the several capitals.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is intended to mitigate climate change through channelling funds from industrialized countries to elsewhere for projects that diminish greenhouse emissions and promote sustainable development. However, relatively few CDM projects have focused on the forestry sector, due to several challenges related to financial, ecological, and social constraints. This study presents an example of a CDM forestry project in northern India, where some of these challenges have been addressed by taking a more holistic approach through linking the project with other watershed development initiatives, planting diverse locally favoured tree species, and promoting sustainable livelihoods in the involved rural communities. According to the interviews of 120 people in 32 panchayats, the project was generally welcomed and it had provided employment and other livelihood benefits for the villagers. However, as the findings also indicate, the project has largely failed to meet its goals for afforestation/reforestation, because vast amounts of seedlings have either not been planted or they have not survived, certain conflicting interests over the dedicated land areas have not been solved, and the level of participation and knowledge sharing has been low. In most cases, the villagers have lacked financial and other incentives—or have not been aware of these—for becoming committed to the project implementation. As similar challenges have also been found in other CDM projects, it is suggested that the procedures of the carbon forestry initiatives are scrutinized particularly in regard to transparency, knowledge sharing, participation, and monitoring.

This study reflects on the processes of participation in an afforestation/reforestation (A/R) Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project in Himachal Pradesh, India. The objective of this Himachal Pradesh Reforestation Project is to sequester greenhouse gases by planting trees on degraded lands in selected panchayats in Himachal Pradesh, and earn credits from the carbon sequestered. Community participation is mentioned as an important theme in the project design documents and manuals. The concept of participation and its practical applications have been criticized in many ways which could be summarized by the notion that ideals of community participation are not easily met in ground reality. The concept is often used only as a label to make projects more appealing, without actually empowering the concerned population. To have a desired effect, participation ought to be thoroughly considered throughout the project. In this project, the possibility to participate in a genuine, active, and informed way was found to be diminished by three factors. Firstly, flows of information consisted mostly of one-way communication from the project staff to the local villagers. Secondly, some crucial information, such as the purpose of the project as a CDM-project, remained obscure to most villagers. Thirdly, in some cases, the project staff’s responsiveness to participants’ feedback was very low.

The Himalayan ecosystem is endowed with rich natural resources, biodiversity, and scenic beauty; therefore, the region is able to provide a range of ecosystem services. The services have been utilized by the local inhabitants and people living in the periphery of this region. The growing demand of these services has put immense pressure on the ecosystem, and under such a scenario, climate change is an additional stressor. The objective of this paper is to assess the magnitude of climate change and its impact on ecosystem services in Kullu valley. The results of the study show certain changes in the climate parameters of the Kullu Valley. The average temperature has shown a rise of 0.38 °C in the winter months over the last four decades, and the precipitation in monsoon season has decreased by 55 mm. Drought has increased in the region. The overall impact of climate change has led to degradation of ecosystem services and has negative implications on human wellbeing.

This article demonstrates that a growing number of Tibetans aspire to migrate to the West and that their ‘capital’ in India, Dharamsala, has become a place of various on-migration activities for the Tibetan newcomers who have relatively recently arrived to India. The case is connected with the current academic discussion on on-migration, a task that has not been fulfilled in the context of this locality before. The study is done by qualitative ethnographic methods, examining migration aspirations of the Tibetan newcomers and their flow out of Dharamsala particularly through heterogeneous refugee narratives and the statements of the Tibetan settlement officials. There is no single motive behind the on-migration aspirations of the Tibetan newcomers, but the interviewees highlighted their livelihood-related difficulties, although increased freedoms in India compared with Tibet under the Chinese rule were appreciated. Hence, global socio-economic and political inequalities affect the migration patterns of the Tibetan newcomers.

The aim of this study is to scrutinize Indian NGOs working in Dharamsala and to concentrate on the role of their networking—especially with other NGOs, but also with other actors, such as the state and donors. Methodologically, the study is based on interviews and observations made in Dharamsala. Networking may bring several benefits to the organizations; the study exposes characteristics of the cooperation of the NGOs. It is interesting to point out the collaborative functioning of Indian and Tibetan NGOs along with the two ethnic communities in Dharamsala area. The quality of the cooperation between them affects the operation of the NGOs itself, but also the co-existence of the two communities. Most of the NGOs interviewed are working in health and social sector and concentrating a lot to the very poorest and most marginalized people. The NGOs interviewed are networking mostly locally and widely among each other. There is a division between the NGOs that get money from the state and the ones who do not, and also between the Indian and Tibetan NGOs and their ethnic communities. For further studies, concentrating on the points of views of the beneficiaries of the NGOs under the study would be useful.

Himalaya provides breath-refreshing pure air with peaceful environment and a pleasant climate, making it an ideal site for tourism and recreational activities. The carrying capacity of this region is low however, due to its fragile environment which gets unstable with miniscule changes. The town of Dharamsala lying in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh is a preferred destination for both domestic and international tourists due to of variety of reasons. Domestic tourism has increased by 14 % in 2006–2011 and international tourism by 3 % during the same period. The increased tourism in town leads to air pollution and sewerage problems, along with huge increased quantity of solid waste. The total solid waste generated in town is about 14,000 kg/day, and the town does not have enough infrastructures to dispose of it all. Only one landfill site is available and it is not properly managed. The growing garbage heaps and lack of proper management lead to various environmental and health problems to the various stakeholders, also having negative implications on tourism industry. Integrated Solid Waste Management is a key to mitigating the problem.

The concept of livelihood extends to include social and cultural means. The current status of tourism and non-farm based livelihood opportunities have been investigated in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. For the collection of primary information, well-structured questionnaires, focus group discussion, and personal interviews were used to document the various non-farm and service sector activities. Villagers are also engaged in non-farm and service sector activities including tourism, woollen knitting, carpentry, basket and leaf plate making, backyard poultry, goat and sheep rearing, handicrafts, and mushroom farming. Foreign tourists are getting interested in the prevailing system of homestays at village level and herbal healing. The field study suggests that there are several institutions working in bringing down the poverty level in the region, but the awareness, resources, provisions and facilities are limited to few. Dera Gopipur Tehsil is among the best performers with a 9.24 composite capital index score, while Harchakiyan with a score of 1.43, fares considerably lower. There is a need of diversification of livelihood activities which could provide ample opportunities of generating income for the rural masses. Community-driven development is the best approach in harnessing the full potential out of the diversification of employment opportunities that tourism and non-farm activities have to offer.

It has been estimated that Himachal Pradesh has vast hydel potential of approx. 21,000 MW in the five river basins. Out of this total potential, only 6,037 MW has been harnessed so far. Himachal Pradesh Energy Development Agency (HIMURJA) has been designated as the nodal agency for the State of Himachal Pradesh to promote small hydro projects (SHPs). HIMURJA has been instrumental on behalf of the State of Himachal Pradesh in formulating various policies and identifying potential sites for the development of SHPs in private sector/joint sector. In spite of all above measures by HIMURJA and private small hydro power developers, a number of SHPs are facing tough resistance from the locals in their implementation. Total negligence towards environmental aspects and lack of community participation is the main reason behind the resistance against the small hydro sector. This study examines community participation in the ongoing small hydro projects in Kullu district. While nominal benefits such as temporary employment have occurred to the rural village community the change in environmental conditions and conflicts regarding right over water resources may further degrade the man-environment relationship.

The present study identifies and analyses the environmental and socio-economic impacts on the livelihoods in urban and rural settings of the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh. The findings deal with the broader objectives of the changing patterns of agricultural production with special reference to diversification, as well as forest-based livelihood outcomes, Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) forest project activities, the roles of different ethnic groups and non-governmental organizations, and the benefits and shortcomings of tourism as a livelihood source. The research suggests that for better agricultural performance and improved land productivity; irrigational facilities need to be strengthened, an overall governmental programme for supporting the farmers of small land holdings should secure the farmers’ livelihood utilities and stop the process of scattered land transforming into wasteland, also the monkey menace shall be controlled. Moreover, the forestry CDM projects have been found to involve several financial, ecological, and social challenges which should be urgently recognized, and the conditions of the plantations and the impacts the projects have on livelihood properly and continuously followed by an independent monitoring agency in Himachal Pradesh, and in the other areas as well. The role of the NGOs is acknowledged due to their operations in health and social sector, and the fact that they concentrate on the very poorest and the most marginalized people. A qualitative improvement in the educational system with more emphasis on female technical and vocational education for self-employment generation is strongly suggested.